Little Miss Sunshine

Movie Synopsis

When Olive Hooper reaches the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant final her family go to every length to get her to the contest on time.

Movie Review Summary

The overall film idea first reminded me of John Cleese’s film Clockwise – which if you haven’t seen it, do so – however Little Miss Sunshine bears little of the humour and goes straight for the hard done by, bitter, resentful family side of this story.

This will probably put some people off, but if you feel like an empathetic emotional roller-coaster of a film and you can relate to the vivid, hard done by, suicidal, parent hating, forlorn characters of this movie, you’ll enjoy this. Watching each of them face up to their life’s trials and tribulations does make it humorous at time, although in some places the links are quite onerous, while others are so good you don’t see them coming.

Steve Carell (as Frank) was pretty mesmerising to watch, not because he stole the show but because his character must have been quite a challenge for him, which he does tremendously well at. Greg Kinnear (Richard) is also one to watch, not least because in this day and age, he’s probably somebody you’ve met or seen before.

I remember the rave reviews this film got when it first broke as being a heart warming tale. Well, it really isn’t – don’t pay much attention to the fact ‘sunshine’ is referenced at all, this isn’t a film that’ll leave you feeling happy. That said, it is enjoyable, not least because you really don’t know – a la National Lampoon style – what is around the next corner for the hotchpotch of characters there are in this family.

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